Georgian Triangle 400K Ride Report and Photos

A Fine Weekend do to a First 400

It was a close to a perfect weekend as one could expect for this outing of the Georgian Triangle 400. Besides myself, eight others had signed up to do the ride: Alan Thwaits, Ken Jobba, Paul Regan, Anne Pokocky, Kaz Bieniak, Fred Krawiecki, Brian Armstrong and Marti du Plessis. Ken arrived at the start but did not feel up to doing the ride and did not start.

Although I had left the house with plenty of time to get to the ride start in Maple by 5:30, my legs seemed strangly lacking in power and I arrived closer to 5:45, with many of the riders already there, no doubt wondering if the organiser had slept in and forgot about the ride. I was still busy signing in the riders and doing bike checks (Brian arrived a few minutes before 6) while Alan, ever on his quest for another personal best "chomped at the bit" and fussed about wanting to leave exactly at 6 am, so I told to go ahead and start the ride without me. Off he went and we never saw him again.

The rest of us rolled out a couple of minutes later, only a few minutes after 6:00. We quickly formed a group of six, with Brian somewhat behind us. There was no wind when I rode to the start, but as we rolled west on Teston, a northwesterly wind was beginning to pick up. The rollers west along Teston before Kleinburg set the tone for the ride - hills and more hills. After a jog through the main street, the route turned west on Nashville Rd, and across Hwy 50, then north along Coleraine, back east on Mayfield and again across Hwy 50 then north along Albion-King townline. This section is a bit dreary, with the road lined on either side with rows of ugly hydro poles, but north of King Sideroad, we were out in the country with farm fields and woodlots on either side of the road. The route meandered yet more, turning west along Old Church Rd, then north on The Gore, and Cons. 3, back west along 10th SR to Colgan before turning definatively north along Adjula-Temcuseth Line. It was at this point that Brian finally caught up to us and then zoomed off ahead. By this point the wind was now blowing quit strongly, and we each took turns pulling off the front. The increasing cloud cover kept the morning cool and the wind made it feel all the cooler.

First control, at Alliston

We made good time to the first control in Alliston, and after a short break carried on the next control in Wasaga Beach. At some point just before the turn from 3/4 Sideroad on to Hwy 26, we came upon a motorcyclist stopped at the side of the road, his rear tire flat and no way to fix it. It was a tubed "tubeless" tire, and he had now way to repair it. He asked if anyone had a cell phone and we stopped while I left him use mine to make a couple of emergency calls. We then carried on, fighting the wind all the way north to Wasaga Beach. The road along the shoreline passed the beaches and cottages was nicely sheltered from the wind. Rather than stopping at Karla's Convenience, we opted instead for the Tim Horton's nearby. It was 12:30 and as expected it was busy with a lunch crowd. The chilie deal seemed to be the meal of choice.

The section north of Wasaga has always been among my favourite on this route, meandering along the shore, through wooded areas and pockets of cottages, with views out over beaches. We hit one section of road under construction and had to portage our way through a section of soft sand. There was a lovely lookout on to a beach at the end of the construction zone, and we spotted someone windsurfing on the water with a parasail.

Construction zone near Woodland Beach

More meander along Tiny Beaches Rd, a nice downhill west along Lafontaine Rd, more meander along Tiny Beaches Rd. And then a nice hump of a hill to climb as we turned east. More lovely scenery, and more hills before our next control at Lafontaine. After another short but well deserved break, we carried on east on Lafontaine Rd, and then through Awenda Provincial Park. The park has among the densest forest I've seen anywhere and it was quite dark along the park road. There was then the long meander east, south and then west past cottages along Champlain Road. And then a nice climb to the turn south at Toanche to Penetang. I suggested to the group the we could stop at a Timmy's just off the route in town and all agreed. After a nice sitdown meal (again chilie deals) to was then off to the official control in Midland.

Heading south towards the control at Lafontaine

After leaving Midland and passing the large Martyrs' Shrine church on Hwy 12, there was the "fun" of the large rollers south along Old Fort Rd. And more climbing east on Moonstone Rd to 5th Line. And more climbing south on 5th Line to Mt. St. Louis Rd. And then a bit more climb west on Mt. St. Louis, followed by a delicious descent into Hillsdale at Hwy 93. By this point it was nearing sunset and the sunlight cast a golden glow on the landscape. We took a short break at a new convenience store/sandwich shop on Hwy 93, just north of the turn (very welcome addition). We donned our night gear at about this point (9pm) and carried on to the next control at Midhurst. Kaz said "there's no climbing, right?". I said replied that I couldn't promise that. Indeed there was the climb east on Horseshoe Valley Rd, then more climb south on 3 line, but finally some nice gentle downhill before the turn west on Ski Trails Rd. After a bit of climb there was a nice descent into the control at Midhurst, where we stopped at the super-sized Mac's. Inside was a Subway outlet, and a few of us ordered subs. A nice break from the cold, but unfortunately they seemed to have no coffee left. Luckily, I had worked with the VP Brevet admin to revise the route to provide more late-night services, among them a Timmy's in the outskirts of Barrie and another at the new control in Bradford which replaced the control in Cookstown. We made use of both along the way, for coffee and to get out of the cold.

At the new control in Bradford

It was brightening in the east as we pedalled throught the Marsh, and was the sun was just rising as we neared the finish in Maple. We arrrived at the Bakery cafe at 6:08 am, 24 hours, 8 minutes after leaving. I'm pleased to say all made it safely. And more importantly, four in my group completed their first ever 400: Anne, Paul, Kaz and Fred. Job well done guys and gals!